Crystal Reynaga (left) who writes codes, and runner Angela Garcia pitch Find You, a GPS watch, to the Shark Tank panel. PHOTOS COURTESY DISNEY ABC
Dressed in their best, two teams of aspiring local student entrepreneurs recently marched onto ABC’s “Shark Tank” set to present their business plans to the “shark” panel.
Calm and poised, Lincoln High School ninth graders Crystal Reynaga and Angela Garcia pitched Find You, a GPS watch that tracks young runners and includes an app to help their parents keep tabs on them. And eighth graders Timothy Coleman and Mauro Palomo, who attend Hawthorne Math & Science Academy, delivered a pitch on how their website $tartup connects entrepreneurs and investors.
The four students fielded a series of questions and got feedback from the panel while taping the 20-minute webisode Math@Work: Math Meets Entrepreneurship. Released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the webisode is the fourth in a free online series that underscores why math skills are essential for jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
During the webisode, shark investor Robert Herjavec asks the girls how many wristbands they will need to sell to break even. “We only need to sell seven wristbands,” says Garcia, a runner.
Impressed, Herjavec says, “Wow, that’s a low number.”
The Math@Work webisodes are developed by the creators of Go Math! an award-winning curriculum for students in K-8, and MATH 180, an intervention program that helps students with algebra.
The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship selected the students for their original business concepts and academic performance.
“It’s never too soon to start on the path to entrepreneurship and financial freedom. I hope Math@Work helps more kids realize that,” says Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary.
To watch the webisodes, visit www.hmhco.com/numeracy-counts/math-work.html.
